her gift of speech is a distant memory, said husband mark kelly. yet gabby giffords' halting words. >> too many children. >> reporter: here as a survivor of the tucson assassination attempt that left her partially blind and partially paralyzed. >> you must act. be bold, be courageous. >> reporter: giffords and kelly, both gun owners, want congress to expand background checks to gun shows and private sales to make it harder for criminals and the mentally ill to get weapons. >> my wife would not be sitting in this seat. she would not have been sitting here today, if we had stronger background checks. >> reporter: but this first hearing on guns since the newtown massacre had another center of gravity. the national rifle association's ceo, wayne lapierre. >> should we have mandatory background checks at gun shows? >> if you're a dealer, that's already the law. >> reporter: of all the gun-related ideas on the table, democrats believe universal background checks has the best chance politically. >> we'll stop them from the original purchase. you missed th